Murphy's mum 'pretends' Brittany death didn't happen

The Clueless star died suddenly on 20 December, 2009 after suffering a cardiac arrest at her Hollywood Hills home and her widower, filmmaker Simon Monjack, passed away just five months later.

Both husband and wife died of pneumonia combined with anaemia, and Sharon Murphy admits she's yet to come to terms with the double tragedy.

She has found it so difficult to cope on her own, every day is a battle to resume some sort of normalcy.

She tells In Touch Weekly, "Every day is difficult. It's still a challenge to get out of bed and put one foot in front of the other.

"It's (the two deaths are) beyond strange. Sometimes, just in order to function, I pretend it didn't happen."

Sharon finds comfort in reliving happier times in her life - and she insists on staying put at the Beverly Hills mansion her daughter died in because she feels closer to the late star.

She says, "I'm always remembering times with her. She would always say that we grew up together, and that's true. We were so close, and such great friends... I feel their presence here. It's comforting."